By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, May 25, 2020: Odisha registered its biggest spike in COVID-19 cases on Monday with 103 people testing positive for the disease, taking the total number of infected persons in the state to 1,438, official sources said.

Incidentally, the state also reported the highest number of 99 patients recovering from the highly-infectious disease on the day, taking the total number of persons cured from COVID-19 in the state to 649.

The recovery rate from the disease now stands at 45.13 per cent in Odisha, while the percentage of positive cases is 1.12, an official in the Health and Family Welfare department said.

Meanwhile, a report from Kalahandi district said a suspected coronavirus patient (35 years old, male), a returnee from Tamil Nadu, died during treatment at a dedicated COVID-19 hospital in Bhawanipatna. He was put on ventilator support as he had breathing problems, doctors said.

However, the state government was awaiting the coronavirus test report of the deceased, before declaring him as a victim of COVID-19. Seven persons have so far died of the disease in Odisha, the official said.

The 103 fresh cases were reported from 16 districts, he added.

The highest number of 22 cases were from Deogarh, followed by 15 from Kendrapara, 10 from Jagatsinghpur, nine from Malkangiri, eight each from Bolangir and Bhadrak, six each from Gajapati and Koraput, five each from Khurda and Balasore, four from Ganjam and one each from Dhenkanal, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur districts.

Most of the fresh cases were returnees from states such as Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu.

Barring two districts, remaining out of the state’s 30 districts have reported COVID-19 cases. Earlier, 102 positive cases were reported on May 18 and 101 on May 12.

Of the total 1,438 cases in Odisha, 782 are active while 649 people have recovered from the disease and seven have died, the official said.

As many as 989 people, including some suspected cases, are kept in isolation in various hospitals, he added.

At least 3,942 samples were tested on Sunday, of which 103 were positive. The total number of coronavirus tests carried out in the state so far has increased to 1,27,776.

Ganjam district, which reported the return of the highest number of migrant workers from other states, continues to head the list of COVID-19 cases in the state with 353, followed by Jajpur (240), Balasore (133), Bhadrak (106), Khurda (82), Puri (81), Cuttack (59) and Kendrapara (55).